by Frank Downey
The press conference turned out to be explosive. Warren, to his credit, told Curtis exactly what they were going to say. Curtis, who was as incensed at the outcome as Warren was, told him "You're going after the ISU, not the USFSA. I'm required to stay out of it publicly, of course, but go for it."
Warren did. His first comment, about the French team's free dance, was, "If that's a World Championship worthy free dance, I'm Christopher Dean."
Sophie joined in. "If I ever choreographed that piece of dung, I'd quit choreography in complete disgust with myself. And don't get me started on the lack of difficulty." Then she said it. "This was rigged, from top to bottom. It was a heist job. Print that. Play it on TV. This competition was rigged."
The president of the ISU, a slimeball from the speed skating side of the sport with no knowledge of figure skating who believed everything the Russian Federation told him, reacted as one would predict. "Are you accusing the judges of this panel of dishonesty?" he sputtered.
"Yes. You bet your ass," Sophie said. Warren nodded agreement. "You have crooked judges. Period. You should fix it."
"You have no proof!"
"The proof is in the final standings," Warren maintained.
That was explosive enough. People started taking sides. "Never criticize the judges," was an unspoken rule in figure skating. Of course, Sophie and Warren were never ones for rules. And, they did find people on their side.
The day after their press conference, they were vindicated. Alice Krenshaw, the American judge on the panel, called her own press conference. She had the backing of the USFSA, but was putting her international career at risk and she knew it-but she couldn't keep silent anymore. She had been approached to be part of the conspiracy. She had audiotapes of phone calls from the Russian judge to prove it. It was made clear to her that, if she didn't play ball, Warren and Sophia would finish exactly where they ended up-sixth. Cooperation on her part would get them back in the medals. She, of course, didn't play ball.
The news put the ISU into a complete uproar. Warren and Sophia thanked Mrs. Krenshaw for her integrity, then smiled as they watched the fur fly.
* * *
There was one other bad thing that happened to the American team at Worlds, but this one was just bad luck. Brett Tomlinson got the flu. He and Andrea skated, but Brett, weak, fell twice. Andrea also fell once, on a throw jump where Brett didn't have enough energy to really get her in the air. They dropped all the way down to fifth.
Liz rang up yet another world championship without much of a challenge. And Tom, in another upset, again won the silver medal, as he had at the Grand Prix Final.
One of the bigger disappointments for Warren and Sophia was that only the top five in each discipline were allowed to take part in the exhibitions. Having finished sixth, they didn't skate.
They headed back to Wisconsin upset at the outcome, but not surprised-and delighted and amused by the ensuing firestorm.
Chapter 134 - A Decision Is Made
Warren and Sophia got back to Wisconsin after Worlds, shrugged off the disappointment of Worlds, and threw themselves back into the last month-plus of classes. They were planning on joining the tour for a month after classes ended. But they only put in minimal practice on the ice, concentrating on their studies, Betsy, and each other.
Also, they wanted as much time as they could to visit with friends. Since most of their friends would be graduating, they weren't sure how many would still be around. They knew two, for sure, would be-Papa Bear and Caitlin, as Papa Bear would be attending Wisconsin's medical school. Many others might not, so they wanted to hang with them as much as possible.
They also wanted to lavish attention on each other. One Friday night, Warren waited until Betsy had been put down to bed. Then, grinning, he beckoned Sophie into their bedroom.
"No studying tonight, Snugglebear?" she grinned.
"Nope, all caught up."
"Feeling frisky?" she teased.
"For you, Pookie, I always feel frisky. I just don't always have the time to show you."
"But tonight you do?" she asked. Warren nodded. "GOODY!"
Warren laughed, led her into the bedroom, and quickly started stripping off her clothes. When he had her completely naked, he led her over to the bed. As she settled down on it, he abruptly grabbed her wrist, pulled a rope from under the mattress, and quickly tied her wrist to the bedpost. He moved over to do the other one.
"You get tied up tonight, my lovely little Sex Toy."
"OOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!"
Laughing, Warren secured her wrists, then moved down to her ankles. He quickly got them secured, leaving her immobile and spread-eagled on the bed.
"Now that I've got you where I want you, what should I do with you?"
"Whatever you want, Master. Oh, you haven't tied me up in such a long time!" Sophie exclaimed happily.
"I know." His first act was to gently kiss her. She returned the kiss, and, as she started getting into it, Warren reached down and tickled her. She exploded with laughter and squirmed against her bonds. "WARREN!" she hissed, still giggling, as he tickled her again. With her giggles still echoing, he moved down and nibbled on her breast. His hand slipped down between her bound legs, and he ran his finger gently up and down her pussy. He felt her wetness run out of her pussy and onto his hand, as her breath got more ragged. He zeroed in on her clit and rubbed all around it. She started moaning and bucking against his hand and her bonds.
"Close, Pookie?"
"Oh, God, getting there," she moaned.
"Can't have that," he grinned, pulling his hand away from her pussy.
"WARREN!" she gasped. "Please!"
"Warren?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oops, sorry, Master. Please let me cum, Master."
"Nope. Not yet. Since you refuse to remember who's the master around here. I am the Master, I get to cum first." Having said that, he straddled her body around her shoulders and aimed his cock right at her mouth. She happily opened it and took his cock in.
They had hit on light bondage as a way to scratch Sophie's submissive streak a few years before. They only did it once in a while, but Sophie enjoyed submission every so often. And, to her, the most submissive act she did was having her mouth fucked. Tied up like that, unable to move her hands to assist her or move her head much, all she could do was open her mouth and let Warren slide his cock in and out of it. She loved it. They didn't do any pain or torture-though this was kind of uncomfortable, with her jaw straining and her nose getting bumped by his pubes-but Sophie enjoyed the submissive aspects. Using your mouth as a passive fuckhole was pretty submissive as far as Sophie was concerned. She got wet just thinking about it. With Warren doing it, she was really wet. She just lay there, letting her mouth be fucked, loving it, until Warren grunted and poured his semen down her eager and waiting throat.
"Oh, God, I love it when you do that," she gasped after she swallowed.
"And since you were a good little cumslut, you shall be repaid," Warren grinned. "And you love it when I do this even more." With that, he moved down and dove in between her legs.
Sophie immediately began howling. She was wound up to begin with, so it didn't take much of Warren's mouth on her pussy to make her explode. She ground her pussy into his mouth-as best she could being tied up-screaming. Warren just kept going. He brought her to another one, before he pulled himself up, crawled in between her legs, and mounted her.
Sophie loved this. Bound, spread-eagled, open and wet to him, unable to do anything but surrender to the relentless pounding of his cock in her pussy. It made her feel helpless and ravaged. She started cumming almost immediately. Warren held out long enough for Sophie to scream her way through three.
After he had cum, he got off of her and slipped off of the bed. He went out to the living room.
One of the Christmas gifts they had gotten, from Warren's parents, was a digital camera. Warren came back in the room holding it. He took a look at Sophie-still bound to the bed, st
ill flushed and heaving, cum leaking out of her pussy and pooling in a puddle beneath it-and snapped off a couple shots. Sophie still had her eyes closed and didn't realize what he was doing.
"Sophie. Smile," he said. She opened her eyes, saw him with the camera, and giggled. "Oooh, naughty!" she said, and smiled for him. After he had a few pictures, he went over and untied her.
As soon as she had her hands free, she immediately wrapped him in a bear hug. "Oooh, thank you Snugglebear, that was magnificent!"
"Ditto," he grinned. "You're so sexy all tied up."
"Uh-huh!"
* * *
As the semester came to a close, Sophie and Warren found themselves quite busy-with graduations.
Jessie's was first. She graduated from Wisconsin-Milwaukee on a Friday night. After a celebratory supper with Jessie's parents, who had, of course, flown in for the graduation, the three of them drove down to Chicago the next day to see Crash graduate from Northwestern.
The next week was finals week for Warren and Sophie. Jessie went back to Madison with them, to stay for the week. Wisconsin-Madison would be graduating the following Saturday, so Warren and Sophie would see all their friends graduate.
"So, how's it feel to be a college graduate?" Warren teased Jessie one night that week.
"Great, except now I have to go get a job. And, worse, I have to go back to Massachusetts to do it."
"Why's that a problem?"
"Because there's not much for me in Mass. I've lost touch with the old gang out there. Crash is going to be in LA, and, besides, he's Liz's now. And, worse, you guys are going to be here."
"Only for another year," Sophie reminded her.
"What about after that?"
"Well, the year after that is an Olympic year," Warren told her, "and we're coming home for that. Remember, we have no coach here, so we want to have June around for the Olympic year."
"But, after that, there's med school," Jessie said.
"Yup. BU or Tufts," Warren told her. "Time to go home."
"Well, that's good, but it's going to be a long year," Jessie said. "Plus, there's that whole job thing."
Warren and Sophie looked at each other, and nodded. "Jess, why don't you stay here?" Warren said to her. "Since you're a graduate from the Wisconsin system, you'd have first crack at jobs at the med center here, and I know they're hiring nurses. Just for a year, and then you'll have a year's experience under your belt."
"Hmmm. I'd need to find a place to live, though," Jessie said.
"You'd live here, of course," Sophie told her. Warren nodded agreement.
"Oh, no, I couldn't do that! Where would I sleep?"
"Where do you think?" Sophie smirked.
"C'mon guys. No way. Yeah, we sometimes share a bed, but actually living together? You guys are married! I'd just get in the way."
"Bullshit, and you know it," Warren told her. "Jess, we love you. Besides which, it'd be a help. You could help with Betsy. You could help me with the cooking." He leered at her. "You could help when I have too much homework and Sophie's horny."
"And if the sleeping arrangements really bother you, we'll buy a bed and throw it in Betsy's room," Sophie told her. "She sleeps through the night now, and there's plenty of room in there."
"Look, you've always said this is temporary," Warren said. Jessie nodded. "Well, this will be it, then. This will be the year we give ourselves to be together, the three of us. Unless, of course, you find someone, which would be fine. But, barring that, this will be our year."
"We really would love to have you," Sophie reiterated. "We love you, Jess. And I'm not talking about in bed right now. We love your company, both of us. And it is going to be another hectic year, and having you around would be a help."
"And it would be good for you, too," Warren added. "The Med Center's a great place to work, from what I've heard-and it's a great place to learn for a young nurse. The year there would do your career a world of good."
"All right," Jessie smiled. "You've convinced me. We are going to get that other bed, though. You guys will need some private time."
"Good," Sophie smiled.
* * *
They happily watched their friends graduate. Mike had taped "WHO'S GOT A JOB?" on top of his mortarboard, making everyone crack up. Mike actually had a job, but it was still funny.
Sophie and Warren got the chance to meet some of their friends' parents.
Of course, the ones they already had met, they weren't all that thrilled to see again--Alexa's parents. The fact that they came, surprised even Alexa. They had barely spoken to their daughter in over three years. Warren said to Sophie, "It might have been better if they hadn't come," after he heard Alexa's father say something like "we paid for it, so we came to see the results of all our money." They were still cold to Alexa. Alexa informing them of her future plans didn't help-she and Mike had both found jobs in Chicago, and they were moving in together. Alexa's parents, of course, did not approve. Alexa couldn't care less, and told them so.
The other parents were a lot better, and Sophie and Warren had never met most of them. They found out that Papa Bear was truly a chip off the old block-his father was just like him, in looks and personality. Cait's parents were sweet-and thrilled to finally meet "our daughter's famous friends." Paul and Cait had been living together for the past year, and everyone thought it was fine. Cait's parents clearly adored Paul, and Paul's parents felt the same about Cait. That was nice to see.
Jessie made her plans. She already had scheduled a job interview at the med center, and was moving her stuff into Warren and Sophia's place. She'd be alone for about a month while they duo were on tour, but that was OK-it'd give her time to settle in.
After enjoying watching their friends graduate, Sophia and Warren took off for New York City to join the tour.
Chapter 135 - Still Welcome To Tour
Warren and Sophia joined the tour in New York City. All of their friends were happy to see them.
They met with Ted Kantor, who ran the tour. "Two slots, one before and one after intermission. That OK?"
"That's fine," Sophie told him. "I must admit, I'm a bit surprised. Sixth place at Worlds and we get two slots?" she laughed.
"Oh, to hell with that," Ted said. "You're former world champions, you're three-time national champions, and we all know that that sixth place was a rip-off. I don't have to worry about corrupt judging decisions-just which skaters my audience is coming to see. You guys are near the top of that list."
There was no show the first night they got in to New York-that'd be the next night-so they went around that evening to gather some friends for dinner. They went to the room that Evan was sharing with Tom Bellamy. Evan opened the door and let them in. Tom was on the phone.
"Your sister," Evan laughed, pointing at Tom on the phone. "They're planning the big reunion when we get to Boston next week. It's disgustingly lovey-dovey around here."
"Yeah, and now we're here," Warren laughed. "The lovey-dovey-ness just quadrupled."
"Yep," Evan snorted.
"Ev. You need a man," Sophie teased him.
"I just had a relationship end."
"Oh. Damn, Evan, I'm sorry," Sophia said.
"Yeah. And there's too many fucking straight guys in the world," Evan said in disgust, making Warren and Sophie crack up. "Anyhow. Where's Betsy?"
"Liz has her. She's coming with us for supper, but she insisted on playing Auntie Liz all afternoon since we got into town."
"Oh, yeah? And how did you guys occupy your afternoon?' Evan teased.
"You don't want to know," Warren laughed.
* * *
They got to Boston a week later. That would be Tom's last gig on the tour for a week-he was staying in Boston for Kristin's prom. Kristin came to the show, of course, deliriously happy to see Tom.
"I'm even happy to see you guys," she teased Warren and Sophie. "This one, too," she picked up Betsy.
"Aunny Kris!" Betsy gurgled.
"Boy. She'
s getting better with the talking," Kris marveled.
The show went well-Warren and Sophie loved it when the tour stopped in Boston, so they could skate for family and friends. Tom seemed to like it, too.
They held an after-show get-together in the hotel ballroom, as they often did. One of the things that often happened at these is that, if there was a piano in the room, the rest of the cast prevailed upon Tom to play for a bit. He gladly did so, enjoying playing for his friends. He did so on this night, too, favoring his friends with some ragtime.
Then he waggled a 'come here' finger at Kristin. She tried to shake it off, but he was persistent.
"Oh, wow, this ought to be interesting," Warren said, seeing what was going on.
"What?" Evan asked.
"Tom's trying to get Kristin to play."
"Your sister?"
"Yeah. She's very good, but terrified to play in front of people."
"Well, he got her over to the piano," Evan pointed out.
"Hey, guys," Tom told the cast, "This is Kristin. She's my girlfriend, and Warren's sister. I want her to play because she blows me away."
"I do not!" Kristin hissed, blushing. "Tom, please..."
"Kris," he said softly, "trust me. If you play for these people you will not regret it."
"OK," she sighed.
"Play the Pathetique," he suggested. She blew out a breath, nodded, and sat down at the piano. She brought her hands to the keys, and began playing.
Kristin didn't notice that the room completely hushed when she started playing. She didn't notice Shawna, sitting at Warren's table, hiss out a "My GOD!" answered by Liz saying, "Yeah, she can really play." She blocked all of that out, concentrating on the notes. She did hear, however, the absolutely thunderous applause that was unleashed when she finished. She heard that just fine. She blushed the color of cranberry juice-and couldn't stop grinning.
"More!" Evan shouted, a demand that was quickly echoed from others in the room. Still blushing, Kris leaned back over the piano and played some Chopin. When she finished that-to more applause-she changed pace and launched into Fleetwood Mac's "Sara", singing along to her playing. She wasn't as good a singer as she was a pianist, but she was good. She ended with Mozart's Sonata Facile.
